As capabilities of computing devices increase and the size of components of the computing devices decrease, the heat generation of the components typically increases. For example, as processing speeds of central processing units (CPU) increase to higher frequencies and, at the same time, decrease in size, relatively extreme temperatures can be generated by the CPU. With the increase in heat generation in computing devices, hot spots, that is, localized high temperature areas, have become an issue.
For example, the increasing desire for smaller and more compact computing devices, such as laptop computers, has resulted in a heat source (e.g., a hard drive, CPU, graphics chip, inverter/converter, memory chips, and the like) being adjacent to one or more external surfaces of the computing device. As such, external surfaces of the device can become heated, which can be uncomfortable or even dangerous to a user of the computing device. In addition, computing components that operate at high temperatures can damage and/or decrease the effectiveness of adjacent computing components
For example, heat-generating components can cause the bottom of a laptop computer to become heated. The heated laptop can cause discomfort or even pain to the user when the laptop is positioned in the user's lap. This has become a significant problem for makers of laptop computers, and other portable devices where there is a continuing effort to make the devices smaller for greater portability. As a result, there is a need for mechanisms to disperse heat generated by a heat-generating component away from localized hot spots.